EamCatuli

I just wanted to relay an experience I had last week with Rallye Mercedes Benz in Roslyn, NY. It may be useful if you're considering buying a car from there; then again, you may think I'm overreacting.

I live in southwestern Connecticut, in one of the suburbs surrounding New York City. For those who don't know the area, Roslyn, NY is also a suburb of New York City, but on Long Island. I was working with a salesman, Victor Cosme, over the phone regarding a C63 that was advertised online. Their offer was for a little under $54k. Victor knew that I lived in Connecticut, and after speaking with him, I told him that I would be coming to visit the dealer to see the car. I didn't have a car, and so heading to Roslyn involved a few hours, some train rides, and a pricy cab ride so that I could made it to the dealer before they closed for the night. Victor knew all of this. I never asked for any reimbursement or anything. Incidentally, the dealer's website, under each car listing, offers to pay for a flight for any out-of-area client who buys a car from them (a fly there, drive back kind of thing).

After seeing the car, I called Mr. Cosme a day later (Saturday) and put in a bid for $52k, less than $2k away from the advertised price (not ridiculously lower than the advertised price or anything; it should've been clear I wasn't trying to waste their time). He told me he would call me back on Monday after checking with his sales manager. Monday came and went with no call. Mid-day Tuesday, I called his office number, and left a voicemail. At the end of the day Tuesday, I called his cell phone number (which he had given me). No answer. Wednesday mid-day I tried again with no answer. I tried one more time on Wednesday using a different phone, which (I didn't realize at the time) is an unlisted number (shows as blocked on caller ID). He picked up.

I asked him whether he had a response from his sales manager. He then told me that the manager did not want to sell the car outside the state of New York. I asked why. He repeated himself, and offered no other information. I asked him why he'd waited three days to tell me this, and he said nothing, no apology or anything. I asked if I could speak with his manager, Jeff Friedberg.

I reached Mr. Friedberg and asked him why the car could not be sold outside of New York. Never raised my voice or anything, just asked the question. He told me I asked too many questions (the only one he actually mentioned was that I had asked whether the car had been punched or not, which is a question almost anyone who does research online on end-of-model-year purchases would probably ask -- all of my other questions were of the "is the car black or metallic black?" variety). He was convinced I would export the car. I was wondering whether I could sign some sort of form certifying that I wouldn't (exporting certainly isn't something I would do), and started to ask that question when he cut me off, said "I'm not selling the car outside New York. Goodbye," and hung up on me. I called back and asked for Mr. Friedberg, and the receptionist told me he was out of the office, despite the fact that I had been speaking with him seconds before. Mr. Friedberg is the general sales manager at the dealership.

I can understand the sensitivities about exporting cars that Mercedes-Benz and its dealers have. My gripes are a) why it took repeated calls to Mr. Cosme in order to get some sort of a response when he told me he'd call back on the next business day, b) why they didn't just tell me that the car wasn't available for sale to out-of-state buyers before I spent a fair amount of time and effort coming down to see the vehicle, c) why the website offered to pay for an out-of-area buyer's flight out to pick up a car when the car wasn't offered out-of-state, and d) why they'd be so resistant to selling to Connecticut, a state which contains large suburbs of New York City.

Those gripes pale in comparison to the fact that I was hung up on by a general sales manager after having my calls ducked by a sales representative. I have been very fortunate in life to generally run up against pretty nice people (and I'm also pretty young, so I can't claim a ton in the way of life experiences positive or negative), so you may laugh when I say that I have never been so insulted, but it's true. Regardless, I would think that this kind of behavior is far, far beneath what I should expect out of a client-facing business, particularly one that was trying to sell me a $50k+ car.

Posted for your information -- I'm sure there are people who have had good experiences with Rallye, and maybe even with Mr. Cosme and Mr. Friedberg, but the above is what happened to me. A few friends of mine suggested that the above might have happened because my last name isn't exactly Smith or Jones (south Asian / middle eastern name). I am usually the last person to go there because again, I've been pretty fortunate in life to not run up against those issues before (certainly not saying it doesn't happen, just saying that I'm fortunate it hasn't happened to me). However, I find it difficult to rationalize the experiences I had with Rallye.

Going to be posting another thread regarding the dealer I ended up buying from, who did a great job.

rmfnla

I would find out who owns the dealership and send your letter to them.

Maybe a copy to MB USA wouldn't be a bad idea, too.

Faast

If i was you i would drive over there in your new C55 and ask politely to see the general manager of the store. Once he comes out explain him the situation and also show him the car and tell him 'coz of the dick head sales manager won't sell you the car.
Don't forget to show the car to that scar face manager.
Congrats on the car though.

ElPrince

Yeah, talk to the general manager and owner. Dealerships already have a bad rap, they dont want any bad word of mouth about them so Im sure the Manager or owner will do something to fix the situation.

fst64_v8pwr

yea, i would def get ahold of the owner of the dealership

EamCatuli

Thanks for the advice. I emailed the owner late last night (at least I think he's the owner), and he did send an apology today, which helps.

Oxygen

That's ****ed up!

sosh

For some unknown reason they just did not wish to do business with you. Perhaps they just did not like you. Its their choice to do so. There is no law stating that they must sell you a car. Perhaps also they had another buyer that was going to pay more. Who knows and who cares.

Oxygen

That is definitely true, but I don't agree with the "who cares" part... I think it's good that a user would post an experience like this. I mean, these guys were in communication with a very potential buyer, a buyer who spent hours on mass transit to even come see the vehicle. I would have at least liked them to have enough courtesy to say "you can't buy this car" nicely... and hanging up on a client?! THATS BULL****!

Above all, this is an AMG we're talking about... terrible business practice. I would write a letter to the management of Rallye and copy MB USA on it.

I got an oil change there once and I though the service was great and the staff was very courteous, and it's not like I drive the latest and greatest car.

rmfnla

If you don't care why bother to respond..?

Jons95c36amg

I bought my C63 at Rallye and thought I was treated good.

st2288

I am getting mine there.. They seems to be the nicest on Long Island and no one can beat their prices.

grane

When I was growing up on LI the Mb dealer in Lakeville had a great rep. I guess they moved to Rockville Centre. Might want to try them, sorry I forget the name. Perhaps we are talking about the same dealer.

I can't believe this sort of possible racism still goes on. Back in the 80s an American Asian senior engineer I commuted with had similar experience. Can't remember the brand but they thought he didn't understand English well and talked behind his back. He ended up with a letter of apology but took his custom elsewhere.

Recently sold a special bike and got a John Smith offer. John lived in MN but his cell phone was UK. Classic dodgy offer, certified check with shipping included still waiting for the check....maybe the dealer had been scammed with this sort of thing.

Show up at the dealer with your car, I did the same thing, long story, but stolid faces and twitchy eyes.

st2288

If you go to Helms Bros, I will guess more than half of their business is from Asian. Even Rallye has a Chinese sales rep. They both advertise in local Chinese newspaper.